


if i had a heart, i could love you

by wonderwall_mp4



Series: lucifer [4]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Soulmates AU, ceo x barista, dark x light ship dynamic, eve's last name is appleton now and no i don't take constructive criticism, mazieve, mazikeve, meve - Freeform, please for the love of god and satan people need to write more about them, sprinkles a little bit of every trope ever on this fic, they are... como se dice.... sexy, you know the one where the first place your soulmate touches has a handprint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-04-06 02:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19053298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderwall_mp4/pseuds/wonderwall_mp4
Summary: the barista’s face morphed from surprise to wonder, and she smiled excitedly. “uh… hi. i guess we’re soulmates, then?”or, where small, excitable fluffball eve teaches her stoic, sarcastic soulmate maze how to feel, and they get up to wacky hijinks trying to manage their new relationship.





	1. MAZE

**Author's Note:**

> there is a chronic lack of mazieve on this hellsite, so i'm doing my part- as a writer, and as a dumb gay bitch who's a whore for angsty ships. this was originally only supposed to be a one-shot but i love this universe way too much so future parts will be incoming.

Mazikeen Smith always prided herself on being above it all. Don’t act up, don’t show emotion. Life was hard enough without letting feelings get in the way, so why put herself through that? She was known by her underlings as a woman who took no shit, the iron fist, a taskmaster. And that was why, though her company was devoted to finding their customers’ soulmates, she had never gone searching for her own. Her worst fear was having to feel. Therefore, if she just never found her soulmate, she didn’t have to.

An hour before she had to leave for work on a particularly cold Wednesday morning, Maze lifted up just the bottom half of her blouse and stared, brows furrowed, at the dark handprint against the tan skin of her lower right rib, where her future soulmate would touch her for the first time. If she wanted to find her one-and-only, her company could easily lift the prints and hand size off of her body and tap into the international database. However, since she didn’t have any desire to find them, she didn’t care to look at it much because it just reminded her of the person who would potentially be stuck with her for all eternity. Something had drawn her to the reflection today, however.

Maze sighed, dropped her shirt, and slipped her pantsuit jacket over her arms and shoulders. She needed to hurry if she wanted to have enough time to drink her coffee in peace.

She took her elevator down to the bottom floor and stepped out, thanking her chauffeur as he held the door open for her. She slid into the car and commanded him to stop at Jumping Beans, the local gourmet coffee shop.

The scent of roasting beans filled the air, along with the dull hum of chattering patrons, and the bell jingled pleasantly as the door closed behind Maze. Lucifer, the man at the counter, took her usual order- mocha frappe, three shots of espresso, extra whip- and greeted her kindly. She offered a pleasant hello back. His soulmate was Chloe Decker, her private investigator and one of the only people she really trusted, which was why when Chloe told her that Lucifer was converting his nightclub to a coffee shop, Maze promised her that she would buy a coffee there every day.

She sat at her table. It didn’t have her name on it, but no one dared to go near, because they knew no matter what time of day it was, Maze would be there soon. 

Maze was a busy woman. CEOs tended to be that way. Even when she was relaxing, her mind was swirling with things she had to do when she wasn’t doing nothing. She was comfortable on her chair, she mentally cursed when she went to check her corporate email for updates on the monthly reports and realized she must have left her phone up at the counter.

Coupling this unfortunate development with her buzzing brain, fate’s giant  _ fuck you _ manifested itself in the form of a distracted collision with a tray that sent icy coffee splattering across Maze’s brand-new dress shirt. She stumbled back a few paces, gasping in dismay as she shook a drip off of her jacket, and the surprise turned to anger quite quickly. “Excuse you!” she fumed. She was all turned around, too busy focusing on the whipped cream quickly drying on her shirt to notice the frenzied panic of the poor barista who had been carrying said tray.

“Oh my goodness, miss, I’m so so sorry!” she apologized. “Here, let me help you.” Maze wasn’t looking closely at her, she only saw a few flashes of chocolate brown hair in her peripheral as she began to grab fistfuls of paper napkins from the dispenser of the nearest table.

The barista grabbed some as well and made for the splotch of drink on Maze’s rib. As her hand made contact with the fabric, a blinding pain shot across her torso that made her suddenly cry out, and the barista recoiled as if she had touched a red-hot iron and let out a hiss.

Maze clutched her side, the napkins dropping to the floor, forgotten. She’d never experienced this firsthand before, but she’d seen enough reactions at her job to know what this was. The barista stared up at her, blinking in shock, and Maze looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time. She must have been a new barista, since Maze had never seen her before. She had wavy, dark hair, wide, gentle doe eyes, an angular face, and her outstretched palm had gone from opaque to slightly darker where she had made contact with Maze’s skin. She was beautiful, in a sweet, innocent way. The thought occurred to Maze that the handprint under her shirt must also have darkened. Their eyes locked together, and something like a spark traveled from one woman to the other. Despite herself, Maze felt her insides give an excited little shiver.

The barista’s face morphed from surprise to wonder, and she smiled excitedly. “Uh… hi. I guess we’re soulmates, then?”

The connection snapped as Maze came to, and her mind went blank with fear. Her mouth opened, and nothing came out, and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed her phone from the bar counter and ran. It had started to sprinkle, and Maze felt it on her hair and arms as she burst through the coffee shop door.

Maze reached for the door handle of her car, chest heaving, when an outcry of “Wait!” made her stop in her tracks. She turned to see the barista standing in the doorway, about fifty feet away, arms clasped around herself, hopping slightly in place to keep herself warm. “Where are you going?” she asked. Her voice was high-toned, cute, and seemed like it was perpetually holding back a giggle.  _ Oh _ , Maze thought.  _ You’re much too good for me _ . “You felt it too, right? It wasn’t just me?” She held out her hand, pleading, palm facing up, where the skin had darkened. It shook in the cold.

Maze sighed and slipped her jacket off, which was mostly untouched by coffee spillage, and tossed it to her. “Put it on, for God’s sake, you’ll freeze.” The dark-haired barista looked from the jacket in her hands back up to Maze in confusion. “You should probably just forget you ever met me,” she said. 

“You can’t mean that,” she called out. “Wait, please! I want to know who you are! I’m supposed to spend eternity with you and I don’t even know your name!” 

“I’m… no.” Maze shook her head stubbornly, opened her car door, and stepped inside. “I have to get to work. I’m sorry. It was… nice to meet you,” she said. 

She was accustomed to not feeling, but she couldn’t drown out the pang of remorse when she caught a glimpse of the anger and hurt on the barista’s face as her chauffeur pulled away from the curb.


	2. EVE

Eve was in a stupor as she walked back into the cafe, clutching the too-long navy blue sleeves of the jacket that belonged to her soulmate.  _ Her soulmate _ . She’d been waiting for this her entire life and it still didn’t seem real. She hadn’t expected much from today; she was excited about going to her new job, and she thought maybe she would grab a cup of coffee with her new employee’s discount and sit through a lecture on blues in her music theory class before having a nice evening in with her favorite companion,  _ The Great British Baking Show.  _ The third-to-last thing she had thought would happen that day was finding her soulmate, the second-to-last thing was her soulmate ending up being possibly the hottest girl she’d ever seen in her life, and the dead last thing was the latter girl completely rejecting her and running off. 

Eve sighed as she rolled up the sleeves of the jacket and began to mop the coffee off of the floor of the cafe. A thought occurred to her- what if her worst fear had come true? What if the reason her mysterious soulmate had run was because she was disappointed? Embarrassingly enough, Eve felt tears fill her eyes, and she hurriedly wiped them away as she tossed the mop into a bucket and wheeled it behind the counter. Her boss, who had been silently watching the scene, wisely left her alone.

As Eve sat down on a chair in the back and let the tears fall down her cheeks, a sweet scent rose off the lapels of the jacket, coconut shampoo and something like mint. It comforted her slightly. Eve was always the optimist, the upbeat one within her group of friends, but it was hard to find an upside in this situation…. except for the jacket. If her mysterious soulmate didn’t care at least a little bit, she wouldn’t have tossed her this jacket. The idea filled Eve with hope.

She didn’t believe in those big corporations that were supposed to help you find your soulmate- she was a pretty spiritual person, having been raised in a Catholic family (hence the name Eve) and she believed strongly that you were supposed to find your soulmate through a natural progression of events. This ideology didn’t help much when you’d already met your soulmate, however, so she was willing to give it a try instead of just waiting around hoping that the pretty woman would walk back into the coffee shop and apologize.

Eve walked back out to the counter and leaned on it. Her boss, Lucifer, who also happened to be her old friend (and boyfriend before she came out as a lesbian, but they didn’t discuss that except for the occasional embarrassing anecdote), sidled up next to her. “Sorry about all that,” she said to him.

“Oh, the coffee? Nonsense,” he said in his posh accent. “No, I’m more interested in the fact that  _ Mazikeen Smith _ , of all people, is your soulmate! You two are some of the most polar opposites I’ve met.”

The words hit Eve like a truck. Mazikeen Smith. Now the mysterious woman had a name. It was an interesting name, not one she’d heard before. Mazikeen. Mazikeen. She poked it around in her brain like a kid tapping piano keys. “You know her?”

“Yeah, of course I know her. She’s Chloe’s current employer,” he said, Chloe being his soulmate. They’d met about three years ago. Eve remembered the gushing to this day. “The fancy-schmancy businesswoman I told you about, remember?”

Come to think of it, Eve did remember. “Yeah. Where does she work?”

“Well, the same place as Chloe.” He pointed down the street to the tall building in the near distance, the Soul Partners, Inc. building. Of course. Of course the girl who ran from her soulmate would work at the biggest matching company in the United States. “Top floor. She’s the CEO. Classic Eve, getting a sugar mommy for a soulmate, eh?” He cocked an eyebrow, and Eve socked him in the shoulder. “Owwww! I’m your boss, you can’t do that anymore!”

“Take me off the payroll, then,” she responded steadily. Luci went silent. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Okay, what should I do? Should I call her? Should I go there? ‘Cause she’s gonna want her jacket back. I can’t just keep this nice, probably expensive-” she checked the tag and sucked in a breath. “ _ -yikes _ , extremely expensive suit jacket. And I mean  _ expensive _ . This thing is worth more than I make in two months. It could pay my rent!”

“Ahem,  _ sugar mommy _ , ahem,” coughed Lucifer, and Eve punched him again. “Ow! I apologize. What I meant to say was, go pay her a visit. Bring the jacket back.” He nudged her in the side gently. “And perhaps you could bring some flowers along? And perhaps while you’re there, you’ll start talking and she’ll fall for your charms and say mushy stuff about wanting to swim in your eyes…”

“Ohhh-kay, just because that’s what happened to you when you met Chloe doesn’t mean it’ll happen to me,” said Eve. “Even soulmates take at least a little bit of work.”

“Fair.” Luci checked his watch. “Well, your lunch starts soon, so I’d say a  _ lot _ bit of work is what you should be doing right now. Just because the person you ran into with those coffees happened to be your soulmate doesn’t mean the revenue doesn’t come out of your tips. Chop chop! Love you!” he pointed to the register. 

“Love you too,” Eve sighed and went to go serve the next customer.


	3. MAZE

Maze groaned and banged her fist against her desk, rattling her nameplate and the array of knives in their pencil cups. It had been a long day- first the soulmate fiasco in the morning, then a debacle with the website being hacked, and now her financial advisor was out sick with the flu, and math wasn’t her strong suit, so no matter how many times she added up the budget reports, she kept getting different numbers. She put her head down on her desk, and she heard the door open, hailing the dulcet tones of Chloe Decker. “You good in here, Maze, or should I wear the bulletproof vest?”

“Knife-free zone, at the moment,” Maze said, muffled against the table. The door closed and she heard Chloe sit down on the edge of her desk quietly. She was the only person besides Linda, her therapist, who could do that without getting stabbed in the leg.

“Rough day, huh?” she asked. Maze gave her a sarcastic  _ OK  _ sign. “What’s the situation?”

Maze lifted her head off the desk and leaned back, sighing. “Well, for one, I found my soulmate this morning.”

Anyone else would immediately start jabbering on about how wonderful that was, but Chloe knew better. She adopted a motherly tone of voice. “I told you this day would come.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “Were they at least cute?”

“Ugh! Stop.” Maze waved a hand. “Yes, she was beautiful and perfect and much too good for me-”

“Maze! You have to stop saying that. You’re awesome, and she’d be lucky to have you.”

“Well, she  _ won’t _ have me.” Maze produced a flask from under her desk and took a long swig. “Because I ran away as soon as we touched.”

Chloe put a hand to her forehead in exasperation. “I know you don’t want to be, like, open, or  _ human _ , or whatever, but you can’t dodge fate forever, Maze. You two are meant to be together, and it’ll happen one way or anoth-”

Suddenly, the intercom on Maze’s desk buzzed, and the two women looked towards it. “Ms. Smith, someone is here to see you. She says she’s your soulmate? She’s demanding to be let up.”

Chloe let out a hoot of laughter. “Well, the universe is sure on time today!” Maze grabbed one of her knives and pointed it at her, and Chloe placed a finger to the tip and pointed it down, completely unthreatened. “Come on, please please please, just let her up. I want to meet her!” She gave Maze her best puppy-dog eyes and pout.

Maze rubbed her face and threw her hands in the air in. “Fine! Fine. But I’m gonna regret this, and it’ll be your fault, Decker.” She pressed a button on the intercom and spoke into it. “Send her up.” A few minutes later, the elevator down the hall dinged. Chloe moved from Maze’s desk to an armchair and gave her a silent double thumbs up.

The barista from the cafe poked her head in, knocking on the doorframe three short times, then stepped into the room. She had Maze’s jacket folded and tucked under her arm, and in her other hand was a small bouquet of violets, which happened to be Maze’s favorite flowers. Maze was almost angry at how cute she was. The girl gave her a hesitant smile. “Hi.” She turned and noticed Chloe in the corner of the room, gaping at her. “Oh, hello, Chloe!” She waved enthusiastically, almost dropping the jacket. “Oop.”

Chloe waved back at her. “Hi, Eve.” She shot Maze a death glare, mouthing  _ be nice _ , and exited the room.

Eve. So that was her name. It suited her. Maze stood up and stepped around her desk, standing in front of the other woman. Eve looked like she was about to die of fear, and while Maze was used to that reaction, for some reason it made her feel bad. “I- I just came to give th-this back to you.” She extended the jacket out to her, and Maze accepted it. “And- and these.” She gave her the violets, Maze took them almost subconsciously. Now with nothing to do with her hands, she clasped them behind your back and scuffed her foot against the floor. “Your name’s Mazikeen, right? Lucifer told me. I like it.” She held out a hand, looking up at Maze with hopeful eyes. “I’m Eve.”

Maze ignored the hand. “No one calls me that. It’s Maze.” Eve awkwardly pulled her hand back and used it to brush her hair behind her ear, trying to play it off.

“Maze. Nice to meet you.” Eve took in a shaky breath. “Hey, would you, maybe, want to-”

“We’re never going to be together,” Maze cut in. “You know that, right?”

Eve recoiled, seeming almost physically stung by the statement. Her eyes darkened, and her brow narrowed in confusion. “But… but we’re soulmates.”

“I told you, you should just forget about me.” Maze sighed and shook her head. “I’m not good relationship material, and you just keep-” she gestured angrily. “You’re so  _ there _ .”

“How could I just forget you? You’re…” she motioned to her, seemingly at a loss for words. “And what, I’m not supposed to pursue my own soulmate? I’m just supposed to leave you be and stay alone forever?”

Maze was getting angrier. “I mean… yes?”

“Wow.” Eve nodded, mouth flattening into a straight line. “So it’s like that. You know, I expected someone…”

“Nicer? Better? Someone who would care for your feelings?” Maze shrugged. “Sorry, sweetheart.” She didn’t know where these words were coming from. All she knew was that she needed to hurt her badly enough that she’d leave and forget about her, she needed to save her from getting hurt worse in the future. She shoved the bouquet into Eve’s chest and she stumbled back. “Leave.”

Eve’s nostrils flared. “No.”

Maze closed her eyes. “Please. Go.”

“No!”

Maze’s anger bubbled up. She did  _ not _ like being told no. Her eyes flashed open into slits. “I DON’T WANT TO BE WITH YOU!” she yelled.

Eve’s furrowed brows and set lips melted into something resembling heartbreak. She obviously didn’t think Maze would snap like this, and Maze watched as her hope drained from her like a tangible thing. She tossed the violets on the floor. “Fine!” she cried, holding back a sob. She turned and stomped out of the room, and Maze was left with the crushed flowers and an overwhelming feeling of guilt.

Chloe poked her head in. “That sounded like it went well.”

Maze sat down in her chair and banged her head on her desk one, two, three times. She looked up, where Chloe was still hanging around the doorframe. “Shut your mouth, Decker.”

“No,  _ you _ shut your mouth!” she countered. Maze’s mouth dropped open. Chloe never got angry, not like this. Her blue eyes blazed with sudden fury. “I can’t believe you would say that to her!”

“I was saving her!” Maze defended herself. “I’m poisonous. It would hurt her more if I were to actually accept that she’s my soulmate.”

“Maze, for the last damn time.” Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose in between her fingers. “You’re not poisonous unless you  _ make _ yourself poison, which you literally just did of your own free will. You’re being self-destructive. I know Eve. She’s one of the kindest, sweetest, most genuine people in the world, and you just broke her heart.” She shrugged. “If anyone could handle you, it’s her.”

Maze mulled that over for a second, picking up the violets off of the carpet. A few petals fell and dusted the ground around her feet. “No,” she decided. “She’ll be better off on her own.”

Chloe sighed. “Whatever. I guess I can’t change your mind, but I hope you realize at some point that you deserve love, and I hope when you do, she’s willing to take you back after  _ that _ shitshow.” She patted Maze on the shoulder and left the room, most likely to go call Lucifer and gossip.

Maze set the violets on her desk and went to sit down. “That day will never come,” she mumbled to herself. Her stomach roiled with guilt, and when she tried to push it down, it just came back stronger than ever. It was hard to concentrate. Eventually she just pushed the budget numbers aside and laid down for a nap on her desk.

For the next week, Maze went to work and carried on as normal, but inside, the shame was suffocating her. She tried not to let it show, but she was sure Chloe could see it, because whenever they crossed paths, she raised an eyebrow at Maze like  _ so what are you gonna do about it?  _ But Maze didn’t want to do anything. She just wanted to get on with her life, but everywhere she turned, Eve was there. She saw her in every face, staring at her, blaming her for her heartbreak.

By the next Wednesday, Maze was done. The guilt became to much for her and she ended up throwing up in her wastebasket, trying to rid herself of the gross feeling, but it was still there after she emptied the contents of her stomach into the trash, taunting her. Like the universe was punishing her for being such a massive, horrible asshole.

Chloe, presumably hearing the retching from her office, rushed in and put a hand on Maze’s back in comfort. When she was done throwing up, she turned and, surprisingly, buried her face in Chloe’s shoulder, and Chloe hesitantly wrapped her arms around Maze. Even more surprising was the fact that she let Chloe hug her. Maze hated hugs.

“Feeling guilty again?” asked Chloe softly. Maze nodded, letting out a muffled sob. That was how Chloe knew this was even worse than she thought, first hugging and now crying. Maze hadn’t cried in a very, very long time. She didn’t really do the emotional thing, and now meeting her soulmate had uncorked the bottle and they were all spilling out in a messy glob.

The consequences after rejecting your soulmate were an absolute bitch. Chloe would know, she tried to stay away from Lucifer, but after a while, she decided to get to know him and now she was happier than ever. She knew if she could get Maze to see Eve, she would heal. “You should go apologize,” she offered, not expecting her to say yes, but Maze sighed and sat back.

“Maybe you’re right.” She was exhausted, and if the universe wanted them to meet again, maybe she should give in, just this once.

Maze knew she’d probably regret it, but at least then Chloe wouldn’t get to say “I told you so”.


	4. EVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quieres some gay?

It had been a week since Eve had gone to Maze’s office and received possibly the most brutal rejection in the history of soulmates. During that week, Maze hadn’t come in for a coffee once, which was strange, since, according to Lucifer, she had been coming in every single day for 3 years. The barista was feeling the effects of the failed encounter, but they manifested more in the form of a deep depression instead of guilt and had spent the last seven days in a haze of loneliness and sadness. It was Thursday, so she was on night shift and was closing up the shop; Lucifer had gone home early. Eve knew that he had a date with Chloe even if he didn’t tell her, but she appreciated that Lucifer had been tactful enough not to gush about how good things had been going with his own soulmate while Eve was in such a conundrum with hers. Lucifer had almost no concept of tact, but it was obvious he was really trying, and Eve appreciated it.

She wiped down the counter one last time and hung her apron on the hook on the door to the stockroom, before beginning to clean the grounds out of the coffee machine. She liked doing this sort of mind-numbing work, it let her focus on something other than her life. Suddenly, a tap on the cafe window made her glance up, and to her shock, peering in with a suit jacket over her arm, a briefcase in her hand, and a hopeful expression on her face, was her soulmate.

Eve let out a huff of breath and, despite her heart betraying her and beginning to thump like a bass drum, she shook her head, continuing to work. Maze tapped again, and kept tapping until Eve threw down the steam wand she was cleaning in exasperation and went to go unlock the door. The bell jingled merrily as Maze stepped inside, and Eve went back behind the counter, using it as a sort of barrier.

“We’re closed,” Eve said, without looking up from the basket of the espresso machine that she had started scrubbing furiously.

Maze set her briefcase and jacket on a nearby chair. “Actually, I didn’t come for one of your divine coffees. I came to see you.”

Eve furrowed her brow, trying to look menacing, being aware it wasn’t working and cursing herself for it. “Well, you made it very, very clear that you didn’t want to see me.”

Maze crossed her arms and leaned them on the counter. Eve looked up at her, and saw how completely exhausted she looked. She assumed those feelings were mirrored in her own face. “I’m really sorry I said those things to you.”

“Yeah, you should be,” said Eve before she could stop herself. To her surprise, Maze let out a laugh.

“You’re pretty funny.”

“Thank you. I think?” Eve fidgeted in place. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

“No.” Maze sighed. “I wanted to explain myself. It doesn’t forgive what I said, but I wanted you to know why I said it.” Eve crossed her arms and waited. “So, all my life, I’ve worked my ass off to get to the top. I’ve had lots of women in business with me, but I’ve seen lots of sexism as well. All of them ended up leaving somehow or getting fired. After a while, I noticed a common thread- they all let their emotions get the best of them. Men are praised for being arrogant and emotional, while women are shunned for it. So I made a pact with myself, and I promised that I would stay away from feeling… anything, really. That’s how I got the CEO position, and that’s why I never tried to find my soulmate like everyone else did. I didn’t want to get sappy. Soft.” Maze lowered her eyes to the freshly washed countertop, looking almost ashamed. “The reason I said those things to you was I was trying to save you from me. I’ve hurt people by keeping them away from me. I literally have two friends, Linda because she’s my therapist and Chloe because she’s the most stubborn person on Earth.” That made Eve laugh, and Maze raised her eyebrows, surprised, before lapsing back into seriousness. “But even though I’ve hurt so many people, I’ve never felt worse in my life than when I saw that look on your face. So, I’m really, truly sorry, and I want to make it up to you somehow.” She shrugged helplessly. “Feel free to say something now.”

“I appreciate you explaining, and thank you for your apology.” Eve gestured to the door. “You can go now.” She began to scrub at the grounds in the basket again.

“Wait!” Maze grabbed her arm, and Eve froze in place, the other woman’s touch making her brain go haywire. “You still owe me for spilling coffee on me last week.”

Eve managed an incredulous laugh. “Are you kidding?” Maze raised an eyebrow. “Fine. What do you want in return?”

Maze extended her hand hesitantly. “A dance?”

Eve narrowed her eyes. “You’re serious.”

Maze nodded. “Choose a song. Chloe told me you were a music theory major, so I have faith you’ll choose a good one. I like rock. It’s the only thing white people have ever done right.” Eve sighed and, against her better judgement, dimmed the lights, then set her phone on the counter and chose a song. “Heaven’s Gate” by Fall Out Boy started to play.

Eve walked around the counter and Maze put her hands out, silently asking for consent. Eve took them and moved them to her own waist, then placed her hands on Maze’s shoulders and stepped closer, showing her that it was okay to touch.

_ One look from you _

_ And I’m on that faded love _

_ Out of my body _

_ And flying above _

Eve was angry at Maze, but when they began to dance, all of that melted away. Eve looked up into Maze’s eyes, which glinted amber in the low light, and when her lips quirked up into a small smile, the first time Eve had ever seen them do so, her breath caught in her chest at the gentle glow that this woman seemed to exude. This was the real Mazikeen Smith, the one that she had been hiding for so long, and Eve got to see her. 

_ If there were any more left of me _

_ I’d give it to you _

_ I tell you that I am fine _

_ But I’m a missile that’s guided to you _

As the chorus guitar hit, Eve laid her cheek on Maze’s shoulder and closed her eyes, and Maze hesitantly wrapped her arms tighter around her so they met at the small of her back and rested her chin on Eve’s head. They spun slowly in place, forgetting time even existed outside of that dark little coffee shop. The fairy lights over the coffee bar flickered warmly like a string of lightning bugs, making shadows dance across the walls like they were spinning in time with the two women.

_ So give me a boost _

_ A boost over Heaven’s gate _

_ Give me a boost over Heaven's gate _

_ I'm gonna need a boost _

_ 'Cause everything else is a substitute for your love _

_ Give me a boost over Heaven's gate _

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came back,” whispered Eve, so quiet that it was a miracle that Maze even heard her.

Eve felt Maze smile. “I’m glad too,” she said. The proximity left Eve breathless, and for possibly the first time, she really,  _ truly _ believed that this woman was her soulmate.

After a minute, the song ended, and with some regret, they broke apart. Maze clasped her hands together and bowed jokingly, and Eve played along by giving her a polite little curtsy. “Thank you for the lovely dance, milady,” said Eve in a silly accent not unlike Lucifer’s.

“And same to you. Does this mean I’m forgiven?” asked Maze hopefully.

Eve inhaled. Maze had hurt her badly, but she also seemed to be really trying. For the first time in the short period they’d known each other, Maze’s face seemed open, or at least less closed off- eyes wide, eyebrows raised, smiling slightly. And Eve’s whole thing was second chances. Some of her best friends were made when she gave people second chances- Lucifer, for example.

“Why don’t we start over?” suggested Eve. She did a dramatic turn and thrust out her hand. “Hi, pretty lady,” Eve said in a sultry voice. “I’m Eve Appleton. And you are?”

“Hey. I’m Mazikeen Smith, but you can call me Maze.” They shook hands. “Could you possibly forgive me for being so awkward in your presence?”

Eve laughed, because Maze was the exact opposite of awkward. She knew that it was her, thinly-veiled, asking for forgiveness for breaking her heart. “Why don’t you take me out and then we’ll see if I forgive you,” Eve ventured cautiously.

“Like in a hitman way, or on a date?” deadpanned Maze. “Because I have contacts for both.”

Eve laughed. “I meant a date, silly. You choose the place.” She went behind the counter and retrieved her bag and phone. “Ask Chloe for my address. I expect to be picked up right at six. Something... fun. Something unique.” She held her chin up, trying to keep a straight face.

Maze raised an eyebrow. “Demanding.” The two of them held eye contact as she picked up her briefcase and jacket. “I guess I’ll see you then.” Eve gave her one last hesitant smile as she turned to leave.

After Eve was sure Maze was out of sight, she broke her stoic mask and hopped up and down. “Yes! Yessssss!” she squealed, doing a little victory dance. “Who’s the boss? I’m the boss!”


	5. MAZE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm such a sucker for linda/chloe/maze being a best friends trio. anyways here's the long awaited conclusion :) hope yall enjoyed this fic as much as i loved writing it

Maze was sure she hadn’t taken her eyes off the clock all day, and the second the hand hit 5:15, she grabbed her briefcase and stood up. Right then, Chloe popped her head round the doorframe. “Hey, Maze-” she paused. “Wait, you’re leaving early.” Linda appeared, right above Chloe.

“What?” asked Linda.

“Maze is leaving early,” Chloe said, looking up at her.

“Oh, Maze is leaving early, right.”

“Good, just the blondies I needed to see.” Maze grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. “I wanted to ask you, Chloe, what’s Eve’s address?” Chloe gave her a gigantic, goofy grin and Linda opened her mouth. “No, no, please don’t start.”

“OH. MY. GOD!” squealed Linda and Chloe at the same time, both running up to Maze and squeezing her between them.

“You’re finally embracing your soulmate?” asked Linda.

“Are you guys gonna… you know?” said Chloe at the same time.

Maze rolled her eyes. “Shut UP, you idiots. Can I  _ please _ just have the address so I can get to my date-“

“DATE?!” they both cried, looking at her expectantly.

Maze sighed. “Yes, date. It’s a noun, Google it. And I promise I’ll tell you all about it later if you just  _ give me _ the address.”

Chloe pointed at her menacingly. “We’ll hold you to that.” Linda nodded in agreement.

“Promise.” Maze raised her hands in surrender.

Chloe took a post-it note from Maze’s desk and scribbled something on it, smacking it onto Maze’s shoulder. She raised an eyebrow. “Hope you have fun.” Something told Maze that there was an ulterior meaning to 'fun'.

“Me too, Decker.” Maze folded the note and shoved it in her pocket. She ruffled Chloe and Linda’s hair on her way to the door, then turned and finger-gunned at each of them in turn. “Drinks tomorrow, you two?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Chloe said.

“Bring Eve along!” suggested Linda.

Maze rolled her eyes again. She was moderately fond of her best friends, but they would probably terrify Eve with all their questions. “I’ll think about it.” 

She strolled out the door and headed to the bathroom, where she slipped into a stall and opened her briefcase. Inside was a pair of tight-fitting black pants, a cropped Ramones shirt, and a pair of Adidas sneakers. She transferred the note with the address to her other pocket. After changing for her and Eve’s epic date, she strolled out to the lobby amongst stares from her underlings. She held her head high, reminding them that even in casual dress, she could still kick their ass.

Her chauffeur was waiting for her on the curb outside, and she slid into the backseat, handing the note with the address up to him. “Here, quick as you can. But first, let’s stop at the florist.”

When the car pulled up to Eve’s building, Maze plus a newly bought, giant bouquet of violets walked up to Eve’s second-floor apartment and gave it three quick knocks. She held the flowers in front of her face. After a few moments, Eve opened the door and peeked out, grinning when she saw the flowers. “Whew, false alarm, Kitty,” she called behind her, pretending to wipe sweat off her brow. “It’s not a serial killer or my extremely intimidating soulmate, just a bunch of flowers with some hot legs!”

Maze poked her head out from behind the bouquet. “I’m intimidating?”

“Ah, she appears!”

“Don’t deflect! I'm the master at deflecting, and you're doing it right now. How am I intimidating?” said Maze.

“Well.” Eve shrugged. “You’re like, half a head taller than me, and you’ve got this resting bitch face thing going on…”

“Never mind, I don’t wanna know. Who’s Kitty?” Eve opened the door slightly wider to reveal a black cat with piercing yellow-green eyes sitting pensively behind her, staring up at Maze. “You named your cat Kitty? That’s… unbelievably cute.”

Eve’s pale cheeks flushed a deep red. “Oh- uh- well- hey, are these for me?” She took the violets, trying to switch the subject. “I love them. Want to come in while I put them in some water?” She cocked a thumb behind her. Maze nodded and followed her into the apartment. “Oh! Where are my manners?! Would you like something to drink?”

“Got any green tea coconut water?” asked Maze, examining three cheesing lucky cats of various sizes on the corner of the counter, paws bobbing in time.

“Afraid not. Sounds interesting, though.” Kitty watched her with slight disinterest before getting up and padding towards a worn armchair in the corner. “She likes you,” Eve remarked. “And that means you’re special, because that little goblin doesn’t like anyone. She’s very protective of me, you know.”

Maze watched as the cat made herself comfortable on the seat. “What happens to people she doesn’t like?”

In answer, Eve pulled up her sleeve to reveal a scarred-over bite mark on her upper bicep. “She did this to me when I first got her from the shelter.” Maze winced. “It’s okay, though. We’ve forgiven each other and she trusts me now.” 

“Well, I guess if I ever hurt you again, I have a small, angry goblin to watch out for.”

Eve stepped into the kitchen and smiled at Maze over her shoulder, her nose wrinkling, cradling the flowers in her arms like a precious object. “Sorry about the mess,” she apologized. She was wearing a too-large black button-up shirt with only one side tucked, her dark hair was flowing loose around her shoulders, and she had on ink-stained jeans that hugged her hips, with a few matching ink smears on her forearms and one on her temple. She turned to see Maze staring at her. “What? Oh, God, I must look like a crazy person.” She self-consciously rubbed her arm. “I was working on a composition before you got here, see, and sometimes I lose track-”

“You’re beautiful,” interrupted Maze. She was surprised to hear the gentle words escape her lips, and Eve seemed equally as surprised.

Eve smiled again, biting her lip and looking shyly down at the floor. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she mumbled finally, flustered, before turning to go rummage under the sink.

Maze laughed and began to take a glance around. Everywhere she looked, there were shelves, with books upon books that spoke of everything from biographies to sci-fi to Woolf. Crammed into the corner of the tiny living room was a baby grand, with papers piled high on top. The walls were hung with polaroid pictures; at closer examination, most of them appeared to be with or of Lucifer and Chloe, but some were of landscapes, forests, gorgeous sunrises. The TV was playing a rerun of  _ Drunk History _ , muted. On the bar counter that separated the open kitchen and the living room sat a half-gone bottle of wine and a stack of ramen noodles. It was the smallest, most cluttered, most college-student house she’d ever been in. Maze loved it.

“Ah-ha!” Eve pulled a bucket out from under the counter, the only vessel other than a bathtub or a dumpster big enough to hold the flowers, and began to fill it with water. 

Maze sat at one of the three barstools, plucked a glass from the hanging rack, and poured herself some of the wine. She took a sip and immediately spat it back into the glass. “Ugh. That’s terrible.”

“Don’t diss, it was 10 bucks on sale at the supermarket and it does the job.” Eve turned, set the bucket on the counter, and plopped the flowers inside. “Namely, getting me so drunk that I forget what year it is.”

“Lightweight.” Maze poured the glass of gross wine into the flower bucket to vehement protests from Eve. “No, it’s good for them, I swear. Next time, I’m getting you some real wine instead of flowers.”

Eve grinned at her. “Next time?”

Maze hadn’t even realized what she was saying. She looked down at the counter, embarrassed, and set the glass down with a sharp  _ clack _ . “I- well- oh, shut up.”

Eve let out a twinkly laugh and spun away, taking the bottle with her and pouring it into the sink. “Guess I won’t need this anymore. So, where are we going?” 

“That’s a surprise for me to know and you to find out,” flirted Maze, standing up and dusting off her hands. “All you need to know is I’m dressed for the occasion.” She gestured down at herself.

“Well then, let me go change. Back in a sec!” Eve tossed the bottle in the trash and darted down a hallway off the kitchen.

“Okay, Miss Right-At-Six,” joked Maze, and Eve stuck her tongue out at her playfully before slipping into the room at the end of the hall.

Maze walked into the living room and perched herself on the piano bench, and Kitty looked up at her sleepily from the armchair next to her. “Greetings, cat,” said Maze, stretching out a hand. “Hey, I come in peace.” Kitty seemed to deem her worthy and let her give her a pat on the head. Glancing at the compositions on the sheet music holder, the topmost one caught her eye. It looked fairly new, and it was titled, surprisingly,  _ Mazikeen _ .

Eve emerged from her bedroom. Now she was wearing different jeans and a floral blouse that revealed her shoulders and collarbones, the ink smears were gone except for the one on her temple, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She rushed over to the piano and snatched the paper from Maze’s hands, nearly giving her a papercut. “No! Don’t look at it!”

“Well, sorry, but when a girl writes a song and makes the title your name, you tend to get curious-” Eve huffed and began to shuffle her sheet music, putting it back in order even though Maze hadn’t touched any of the others. “Would you… maybe… play it for me?” ventured Maze.

Eve shook her head. “It’s not done. Besides, it’s embarrassing.”

“Please?” Maze gave Eve her very best puppy-dog eyes, learned from the master herself: Chloe Decker. “I promise I won’t judge you. What’s the point of writing me a song if I can’t hear it?”

Eve looked up from her music and seemed to melt a little bit. “Fine. But you can’t laugh.” Maze drew an X over her heart and scooted over so Eve could sit next to her on the bench.

Eve took a deep breath and began to play. The composition started out slowly, deep and sorrowful, and her fingers seemed to coax sobs of melody from the black beast of a grand piano, and it sounded like dark nights and loss and sour cherries… but then it quickened, the pace becoming seamlessly lively, bouncing from high to low. It sounded like summer and champagne and suede and bright lights, and the sound filled Maze up from head to toe with a complex web of emotions she couldn’t explain-

The music stopped abruptly and Eve sat back. “That’s what I have so far.”

Maze stared at her, speechless for once in her life. “Where… how…” she gestured to the innocuous piece of paper that held so much life. “That was… amazing. Beautiful. Where did it come from?”

“I just… wrote down how you make me feel.” Eve shrugged, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “If it’s beautiful, then so are you. You liked it?”

Like wasn’t nearly a strong enough word. Maze didn’t think there were any words at all for how it made her feel, like a balloon of warmth filling up her chest. “Yeah, I did.” She blinked, seemingly coming out of a daze. 

Eve exhaled happily. “I’m glad.” She bounced up from her seat and spun in excitement. “Okay, let’s go. Is this outfit good?”

“It’s great.” Maze held up a finger. “But wait, you’re missing something.” She stood up and walked over to the bucket of violets. She plucked a violet from the bouquet and tucked the stem behind Eve’s ear, hand lingering on her cheek. Eve stared at her, paralyzed, and Maze thought she felt the two of them gravitate a little towards each other before Maze cleared her throat and looked down. “Now it’s perfect.” Maze presented her arm. “Milady?”

Eve nodded. She grabbed her purse, looped her arm through the crook of Maze’s elbow, and they exited the apartment. “Bye, little goblin!” Eve called over her shoulder. Kitty watched them silently as the door swung closed, and after a few flights of stars, they arrived on the bottom floor. “You have a  _ private car _ ?” exclaimed Eve, starry-eyed and open-mouthed. “The only thing cooler than that would be, like, a magic carpet. Ooh, or an elephant!”

_ Dork _ , thought Maze fondly. “Well, since I’m not friggin’ Aladdin, the car will have to do.” She opened the door, and Eve slipped inside, followed by Maze. When they were in and the door was closed, Maze leaned forward and whispered her destination in her chauffeur’s ear.

In the rearview mirror, she saw his face morph into a look of surprise. “Really?” Maze nodded.

“That sounds promising!” said Eve, raising her eyebrows.

The drive lasted for about ten minutes, and as the car wove through traffic, Eve was a non-stop fountain of chatter, regaling her with stories from her job and her classes. Maze was a woman of few words, so she was content to listen and watch Eve’s hazel eyes light up whenever she hopped on to a different subject.

They rolled up to the front of the building, and the chauffeur let them out. The sky overhead was roiling with clouds, like it might rain. Eve looked up at the sign: Laser Craze. “The arcade? Laser tag? This is our date?” she asked incredulously.

Maze felt nervousness bubble up in her stomach. “... yes?”

Eve stared at her for a moment, expression indecipherable, before bursting into a wide grin. “I love it!” she squealed, hopping up on her tip-toes and pecking Maze jauntily on the cheek, and Maze couldn’t remember the last time she got flustered, if ever, but she felt her entire face flush despite herself. Eve grabbed her arm and dragged her inside amidst the cacophony of ringing and buzzing and beeping from arcade games.

“So, this is your date.” Maze gestured around. “Laser tag, food, or arcade first?” 

“What? This is  _ our _ date!” Eve seemed to rethink her statement. “Actually, you’re right. I’m calling the shots now. Laser tag it is! Then Skee Ball and Fruit Ninja, and then we’ll get shitty pizza and drinks. Best. Date. Ever!” Maze felt Eve’s hand brush against hers, and the shorter girl’s calloused fingers, work-worn, unhesitatingly entwined with Maze’s longer ones. Maze tensed, but after a moment, she let Eve take the lead as she smiled at her and pulled her towards the counter.

Maze was inwardly ecstatic about the fact that Eve didn’t mind playing laser tag with her. She loved to come here on her days off and absolutely demolish a birthday party of young teens in a shootout. Chloe and Linda had both dubbed the game “too childish” to come with her, and she was pretty bored of playing on her own.

When Maze paid for their game and they got their score cards, they went and got their codenames (Eve: APPLES2APPLES, Maze: AMAZEING. “Aw, dammit.” Eve gestured to the screens above them in the briefing room. “We’re on opposite teams.”

Maze sighed sadly. “And red is my lucky team, too.” An employee turned off the lights and the instructional video began to play. There were about 20 other people in the room. Maze leaned over to Eve and hissed in her ear, “You ever been laser tagging before?”

“No, but I bet I’m better at it than you,” murmured Eve back, her breath tickling the shell of Maze’s ear and sending shivers up and down her spine.

Maze raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? See all these people?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll get the whole opposite team.”

“Mmm, that’s so hot,” whispered Eve. Maze could hear the smirk in her voice.  “After you get them, how about I get you?”

“Oh, you’re on, Applesauce.”

“That better not be my new nickname.”

Everyone in the room stood up, so Maze stood too and helped Eve to her feet. They filed with the rest of the players into the vesting room. Eve held onto Maze’s hand as long as she possibly could. When they had to split into teams, Eve let out a jokey “nooooo!” as she drifted away to the red side. Maze rolled her eyes at the girl’s antics.

The buzzer counted down and the game started, and Maze was in her element. Her favorite things were parkour, violence, gymnastics, and fighting people, not necessarily in that order, and laser tag was all of that, except socially acceptable. It was perfect. Plus, the arena was double-level, with plenty of things for Maze to hide behind and flip under or over.

This specific game was what Maze liked to call one-and-done: one game, each person got one life, and the team with the last man standing won. It was her favorite kind of game- high stakes, no room for error, and you were hailed as a hero if you could make it to even the final five. She ducked behind a pole when she saw a few flashes of red in the distance, and when they bobbed closer, she looped around and shot them in the back, three players down. A few seconds later, she heard their cries of disappointment and snickered. She snuck up onto the second floor, shooting four more people in the back, front, shoulder, and back respectively, before hiding in her favorite spot and shooting the base at least a couple hundred times while the weaklings left behind to guard it turned around frantically, trying to figure out where the lasers were coming from. She shot them down easily. Checking the scoreboard as she ran by, she saw that there were only two people still standing on the red team, and one on the blue team- her. So it was going to be like that. A quick game, indeed.

A red laser fired right over her head and she instinctively ducked and rolled, shooting as she somersaulted. A flash of red vest drew Maze’s eye and she moved toward it, popped up, and shot at it point-blank. A beep confirmed the vest had been hit and Maze punched the air in victory. Now, it was just her and the last red.

Maze walked a few feet, aware of a presence close by, but not quite being able to pinpoint where it came from. Something bowled her over to the side and she was suddenly against the wall with Eve pressed against her. Her vest was still lit up, but Maze didn’t notice because she had gone into sensory overload mode, their noses barely an inch apart, her warm breath ghosting across Maze’s lips. Eve moved in closer, smiling that goddamned smile, and her heart, against her will, was pounding like crazy, and before Maze could even form a coherent thought, she breathed, “gotcha.” and shot her in the stomach.

Maze’s jaw dropped as the lights came up and Eve backed away, arms up in a victory V. “Who’s the champ now, Mazey Maze?!” she cried. The red team crowded around her, slapping her on the back and cheering her on, and Eve turned to greet them before shooting a wicked grin at Maze over her shoulder. Maze’s first admiring thought was  _ damn, I kinda wanna marry this girl _ . The thought alarmed, even frightened her- she’d never felt like that about anyone. It made her feel nauseous, but in a good way.

Immediately after they exited the laser tag arena, even though Maze was still grumpy about Eve’s unfair victory, Eve dragged her to go buy tokens for the arcade machines. Maze was horrible at Skee Ball, so Eve kicked her ass every time they played. Eve must have been some kind of arcade genius, because soon she had a fat load of tickets in her arms, which she exchanged for some candy and a stuffed bear that sat on her shoulder as she continued playing. Maze followed her around with a cup of tokens and a bag of her continuously collected prizes, which now included enough candy to give the excitable Eve a sugar high for days, three plastic frogs, which they had named Deathbringer, Annihilator, and Sprinkles (you could probably guess who named which one), a wrinkly, deflated beach ball, and a hat that read “#1 Dad!” which Eve set jauntily atop Maze’s head.

After a while, Eve exhausted all her tokens and the two of them ordered a pizza to share. Eve set the bear on the table in between them and they started to talk while they waited for their food. 

Maze learned that Eve was a junior at the nearby community college, getting her bachelor’s degrees in music theory and English literature. In her spare time she liked to read, take pictures, get drunk, and listen to pretty much any genre of music. Right now, she worked part-time at Lucifer’s coffee shop, but her dream job was to work for a production studio, writing film and TV scores. Maze told Eve a few things about herself as well, like how her best friends were Chloe and Linda, that she was the CEO of Soul Partners, Inc. after she had started there three years ago as an intern and hurriedly climbed the ladder, and that in her spare time she liked to spar, play soccer and basketball, lift weights, throw knives, and paint.

They found common ground (ha) in their love for coffee, debating for several minutes how much of a discount Maze could get at Jumping Beans, Eve finally caving in and promising her the employee’s discount, but only if Maze promised to bring her good wine. Maze slowly let down her walls, telling Eve more and more about herself, and Eve exchanged it for little facts as well. Eve played piano, guitar, ukulele, drums, flute, and a little bit of harp. Maze knew how to throw knives and axes. Eve’s favorite TV show was  _ Orphan Black _ , Maze’s were _ The Walking Dead _ and  _ NCIS _ . Eve’s family had disowned her when they found out she was a lesbian, so she and Lucifer had lived together their last two years of high school. Maze’s mom was abusive and a drug addict, and she had never met her father. With each sentence they moved closer together, and soon they were sitting right next to each other on one side of the table, ignoring the strange looks from the teenaged patrons, lost in their own little world of confession. Eve’s face was so beautiful and expressive and open, and it made Maze want to tell her everything. She’d never experienced that before.

“Your turn. Tell me something.” Eve raised an eyebrow, looking intently into Maze’s eyes. Maze liked the way she gave her every ounce of attention she had, but it also felt a tiny bit like she was about to catch on fire from her focus.

“I’m getting… better at feeling, these last few days,” confessed Maze. “It’s hard. I have some issues, obviously, because of my past, and because I’m scared. But I’m trying, and I want to keep trying. For you.”

Eve’s face slowly cracked into a smile, and she reached out to take Maze’s hand. “I’m really proud of you,” she said simply.

Maze leaned in and opened her mouth, to say what, she had no idea, when the server came by and delivered a steaming pepperoni pizza, and Eve let out a gasp of excitement. Maze had noticed that, how often she seemed excited, but it was genuine; everything that was new was an adventure to her. Even this pepperoni pizza that was bound to taste shitty. And that was another reason, Maze realized, why Eve was her soulmate: she was the excitement to her calm, the adventure to her safety. 

And all that from a damn pizza. Maze took a slice and bit into it. It was mediocre at best. But Eve was enjoying it, so she ate.

After they finished eating, they gathered up their prizes and went to leave, but they realized it had started to rain, so they stood under the overhang to wait for Maze’s chauffeur. “It was raining when we met, remember?” reminisced Eve fondly.

“You sound like an old person talking about their childhood. This was literally last week.” Eve laughed at that, a big belly laugh that made her nose and cheeks crinkle up and her eyes shiny, and Maze realized there was something she wanted more than anything in the world right now. “Can I…” Maze started, then stopped. She was scared.

“What is it?”

Maze took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Can I kiss you?”

Eve’s eyes widened, and she gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. Maze hesitantly cupped Eve’s face in her hands and brought their lips together, and just before they touched, Eve whispered, “finally.”

Then they were kissing, and Eve was soft and warm and gentle and tempered Maze’s natural roughness with a kind of soft domination of her own. They were kissing, and Maze felt like she could fly if her feet weren’t made of stone. Eve’s arms wrapped around Maze’s waist and pulled her closer, until Maze was unsure where her breath, her body, her self ended and Eve began. After what felt like forever, and then again, no time at all, Eve pulled back and, in true Eve fashion, pecked Maze’s nose with a small laugh. “Finally,” she repeated. “I’ve wanted to do that since we danced.”

“Me too, I think,” said Maze, still a little bit at a loss for words. “No. I know.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to be with me?” asked Eve, a note of hesitation in her voice.

Maze reached out a hand, and Eve held it. “I’m not sure. I have a lot of stuff I need to work through, obviously, but… I’d like to do it with you?” the end curved up in her mouth, like a question, one for Eve to answer.

Eve squeezed her hand. “I’d like that. Gives me an excuse to boss you around.” She reached up with her other hand and tipped the _#1 Dad_ hat down over Maze's eyes and, laughing, Maze pushed it back up. “Now, c’mon, what’s your favorite place for dinner? We’ll get some takeout. I could tell you didn’t like that pizza.” As if on cue, Maze’s car drove up to the curb, and Eve started to pull her over.

“Wait!” Eve turned back, and Maze leaned down and kissed her one more time, feeling Eve’s lips curl into a smile as she kissed her back. It was no less incredible the second time around. “Okay, that’s all.”

“Idiot,” said Eve, but her face broke into her signature, no-holds-barred smile, and they left with their hands clasped together.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter for me being a dummy ass, jokes about death, and writing content @eveningstqr and on tumblr for... whatever the fuck i feel like reblogging i guess @transmazikeen


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